snOMG!

[M A V I C]

Grace62 wrote:
We don't see much snow around these parts. Just relax and enjoy.

That's what people say every year...

[Speedy]

I imagine it is because of Seattle's hills.

[WHiiP]

The hills are alive with the sound of snow.

[DP]

Growing up in Detroit we rarely had a snow day-hell, we never heard of the term "snow day"!

And I walked 5 miles uphill both ways barefoot to school...

[Grace62]

Racer X wrote:
Just got a robo-call from Seattle Public Schools, already scheduled for a 2 hour late start.

I don't want the kids home for a snow day. They hog all the bandwidth for their games, and my porn surfing drops to a crawl.

Heh.

Schools in Snohomish county are closed. Snow is coming down steadily outside my window. Very pretty!

[Racer X]

Just rain here in N Seattle.

[M A V I C]

Speedy wrote:
I imagine it is because of Seattle's hills.

That's one excuse that's often given, but it apparently comes from people who are unaware there's many places with more hills that get snow and still manage.

Grace62 wrote:
Schools in Snohomish county are closed. Snow is coming down steadily outside my window. Very pretty!

That's just sad. My dad was in charge of calling snow days for a couple Snohomish county school districts. He did the same in Montana and a few other states. There's safety and there's insanity... how often they close or delay here when there's no good reason is just insane.

[Racer X]

Seattle Public Schools are FAR more cautious and conservative now vs when I was a student in the 70s and 80s.

[Grace62]

M A V I C wrote:


That's just sad. My dad was in charge of calling snow days for a couple Snohomish county school districts. He did the same in Montana and a few other states. There's safety and there's insanity... how often they close or delay here when there's no good reason is just insane.

They made the right call in our district. Our neighborhood streets are icy and slick right now, nobody is going anywhere this morning. I live 2/3rds of the way down the side of steep canyon. When it snows like this we just stay put, the streets eventually get sanded and plowed but as you know there is not much snow removal equipment around here.
And with steady snow falling, temps falling, and 14 inches of snow in the forecast, why risk it?
This isn't Montana. The differences seem reasonable to me.

[M A V I C]

Such decision should be made on facts, not speculation. Forecasters are wrong in this area more often than they're incorrect. My dad knew the area, knew the spots where conditions would be the worst. He would go out an inspect the conditions early in the morning and make a decision by around 5am. In all those years, he never made the wrong call from a safety perspective. He did get flak for political reasons (eg demonstrating how clueless other districts were.)

The busses are (or were at least) equipped with automatic sanders and chains. Those are still relatively inexpensive (add roughly 1% to the cost of a bus.) The 14" forecast is for tonight... there's no point in having a 2hr delay this morning because of that. Same with temps and snow falling - delaying today's start by 2hrs isn't going to help that.

I'm not sure what your comment "This isn't Montana" is supposed to mean. My dad did this same work in other states with roads icy roads much more treacherous than what we have around here. The only difference between here and Montana is around here the decisions are made based on two factors:
1. Ignorance
2. Politics